'Extraordinary movie' will show in Stroud

'Extraordinary movie' will show in Stroud

FOLLOWING Bronnt Industries Kapital's debut Stroud performance of Turksib at SITE Festival 2016, Stroud's independent arts magazine Good On Paper invite them back for the 2018 edition of the multi-arts festival

SITE festival is organised by the Stroud Valley Artspace, and next Thursdaya packed audience will be treated to a performance of Bronnt Industries Kapital's live soundtrack to Oleksandr Dovzhenko's silent film from 1928 Arsenal.

Arsenal is a newly commissioned soundtrack for the 1928 film by Oleksandr Dovzhenko and was released to mark the 100-year anniversary of the Kiev Uprising, depicted in the infamous silent film.

The soundtrack was commissioned by the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre in Kiev, Ukraine to accompany the recently restored print, and supported by the British Council.

Bronnt Industries Kapital is based around British composer Guy Bartell, who works in the fields of film soundtrack, electronic music and sound art.

He has recorded soundtracks for Tartan Films and the British Film Institute amongst others, including contemporary scores for the cult Swedish silent film Häxan and the Soviet propaganda film Turksib.

When arranging the soundtrack, Bartell used a broad range of sound sources, from regular instruments such as strings, guitar, drums, to sounds produced using extended techniques, including prepared piano, bowed piano, bowed and resonated metal sheets, and the use of materiel items such as large shell casings as bells and spent bullet casings as rudimentary flutes.

Bartell looked to convey that very metallic sense of 20th Century warfare, which also resonates with the setting of large parts of the film in the ‘arsenal’ of the film’s title.

The use of Foley sound effects also embed the music within the fabric of Dovzhenko’s memorable motion picture.

Additionally, the score features the sound of the bandura, a very special, traditional, multi-stringed Ukranian instrument.

Beautifully framed and shot, this visceral anti-war silent movie is brought to life by Guy Bartell’s expertly judged resonant score.

World War I brought devastation, heartache and hardship to the Ukrainian people.

Timosh, a recently demobbed soldier, returns to his hometown Kyiv amidst the celebrations of Ukrainian freedom.

But Timosh challenges the local authorities by calling for the Soviet system to be adopted.

From its devastating opening sequence onwards we are acutely aware of the emotional impact of a completely different style of film making.

The restored version was originally screened at Mystetksyi Arsenal - a modern gallery which is located not far from factory Arsenal - the location of the original Arsenal Uprising...

"Bartell's score is expertly judged - an echo chamber of horror for the film to resonate inside. I urge you to catch the film with this score whenever you can.' Pamela Hutchinson, The Guardian

"An extraordinary soundtrack for an extraordinary movie, Guy Bartell's sound score for Arsenal plugs the viewer directly into the nervous system of this shattering film." John Sweeney

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